Waterford — On a night that Ryan Bakken set a career-high for touchdown passes in a game, the Waterford senior's post-game thoughts quickly turned to the one that got away on opening night.

"I should have had six, honestly," said Bakken, who finished with five, two more than his previous best completed last season. "I made a bad decision on the interception."

The Lancers weren't perfect either but they were pretty darn good while rolling to a 33-13 win over Plainfield.

They shook off most of the offseason rust and rode the strong and accurate arm of Bakken who completed 13 of 24 passes for 253 yards. He found four different receivers for touchdowns, including junior Sam Menders who hauled in two.

"It's kind of a break-out performance," coach John Strecker said of Bakken's play. "He threw for 2,000 yards last year. Quietly, he had a great year last year. ... He's got a great demeanor and he's calm. He can make some reads and stuff. It's awesome."

A hard-hitting defense handed the Lancers good field position and forced two turnovers.

All in all, a good night.

"It's good to come out with a win...," Strecker said. "We're feeling pretty good about some of the stuff that we can do. We have to clean up some mistakes, but that's every week."

Big plays fueled the Waterford attack, racking up five plays of at least 20 yards.

Bakken's touchdown passes went for 28, four, 37, 18 and nine yards.

Both teams were in the gambling mood in the first half, regularly going for it on fourth down with mixed results. Plainfield also converted a first down off a fake punt.

A Waterford defensive stand set up the game's first score.

Junior Christian Hightower tackled quarterback Liam Smith short of the first down on fourth and two, giving the ball back to the Lancers at their own 32-yard line.

Seven plays later, Bakken threw deep down the middle to senior Michael Vincent who slipped behind his defender and juggled the ball before hauling it in for a 28-yard touchdown on the final play of the first quarter.

From that point on, the Lancers were in control. They scored on their last three drives of the first half to take a 20-0 lead at intermission.

Hightower's leaping interception handed Waterford possession at its own 13. A couple of big plays propelled the 87-yard scoring drive.

On the first play, Vincent bounced outside and bolted 52 yards. Bakken hit senior Payton Sutman for 22 yards to set up a first and goal from the five. Sutman, a member of the state championship baseball and basketball teams, is a new addition to the team.

Junior Quincy Foren cut across the middle and hauled a 4-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 edge.

With time running down, Waterford marched 77 yards in just four plays to increase the lead to 20-0. Sutman turned a short pass into a 40-yard gain by breaking tackles. Then, after an incomplete pass, Hightower fought through traffic and went 37 yards for a touchdown.

Bakken threw two touchdown passes to Menders in the second half.

Ethan Leroux finally got Plainfield on the board, scoring on a 53-yard run on the last play of the third quarter.

Coming off a three-win season, the Lancers looked like a new and improved model. They built a 20-0 halftime lead and never looked back.

"This is really going to be a big confidence builder for us," Bakken said. "We saw what we could do. ... Going into next week, we're going to be confident but we have to make sure we don't get cocky, though."

g.keefe@theday.com